Monsoon session of Parliament concludes

The Lok Sabha was on Friday adjourned sine die marking the conclusion of the monsoon session of Parliament—which was the ninth session of the 16th Lok Sabha.

In her valedictory address, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan described the session as highly productive and fruitful. During the session, Mahajan said many important legislative businesses including the Goods and Services Tax bill, were taken up and passed.

Several important bills including the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016, Employees Compensation (Amendment) Bill 2016 and the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, were passed. The house also passed the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) and Dentists (Amendment) Bills to replace the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) ordinances, Mahajan said.

The session had begun on July 18, and the house had general discussion under Rule 193A on important issues like atrocities on Dalits, price rise and sustainable development goals, which the Speaker said remained “inconclusive”.

The house also took up the issue of Encephalitis disease, especially in eastern India, and the impact of Hirakud dam being constructed by Chhattisgarh over the Mahanadi river.

According to the Speaker, on an average the house took at least five questions every day during its 20 sittings. “We had verbally answered 99 questions, just one short of hundred,” she told the Lok Sabha. The house also sat for extra hours to compensate for loss of working time, Mahajan said.

Earlier, the house unanimously passed a resolution on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and resolved to “restore” the confidence of the people in general and youths in particular, amid thumping of desks. Congress leader Mallikarjaun Kharge suggested that in view of the deteriorating situation in the state the house should pass a resolution.

Responding to him, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the upper house had earlier this week passed a similar resolution and the government was more than willing to pass one such resolution in the lower house too. However, on the suggestions from members including Saugata Roy and Sudip Bandyopadhyay of Trinamool Congress, the Speaker read out the resolution.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani were also present among other senior ministers. The resolution, read by the Speaker, said: “This house expresses serious concern over the violence in Kashmir Valley. This house earnestly appeals to all sections of society in India to work for the early restoration of normalcy and harmony.”

The resolution conveyed “its deep sense of anguish and concern over the loss of lives and critical injuries caused by the deteriorating situation”. “It is equally an imperative that urgent steps are taken to restore order and peace for the alleviation of the sufferings of the people,” it said. The house “earnestly appeals to all sections of the society in Jammu and Kashmir and India, to work for the early restoration of normalcy and harmony and unanimously resolves to restore the confidence among the people in general and youth in particular”.